Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine's Day Paper Crafts

I don't usually go crazy over Valentine's Day gifts. However, this year I am on vacation with my husband and his family, so I decided to make a little gift for everyone. Thankfully, I thought of this before we left, so it gave me time to make sure it fit the following criteria:

The items would have to be small since it needed to fit in my luggage, which was already overflowing with my daughter's stuff as well as mine.

The item had to be able to withstand the cold of flying, and the heat of the tropics - chocolate was OUT.

It had to be simple and appropriate for both males and females ranging from mid-20s to mid-50s

While I searched for fun Valentine crafts that weren't too cheesy or over-involved, I ran across this tutorial for crocheted hearts:

They were cute, but obviously I was looking for a little something more. I started looking around on Pinterest and found a pin filled with cute boxes folded out of craft paper. After a quick internet search, I came across a box that was simple enough for a beginner to make, but still somewhat fancy. Sadly I lost the link, otherwise I would post it. I could then fill the boxes with those conversation hearts which are a lot harder to melt than chocolate! (The best part? Walmart had a five pack for just a dollar!)

First I printed and cut out the template from the internet. I picked a few fun sheets of craft paper and traced the outline on the back:

After cutting them out, I tried my hand at "scoring" the backs so that they folded neater. However, this pattern was simple enough I probably could have just used a straight edge to fold them.

And here is the final result!

The best part is, I was able to flatten the boxes down and tuck them in a book to be assembled once we arrive!